Dingle Peninsula

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Dingle Peninsula
Corca Dhuibhne
Dingle Peninsula.png
Location of the Dingle Peninsula
Dingle Peninsula
Geography
Location Ireland
Adjacent to
Area583 km2 (225 sq mi)
Highest elevation952 m (3123 ft)
Highest point Mount Brandon
Administration
County Kerry
County council 3 seats

Dunmore Head, the westernmost point on the Dingle Peninsula Dunmore-Head-2012.JPG
Dunmore Head, the westernmost point on the Dingle Peninsula
NASA satellite image of the Dingle Peninsula Dingle Peninsula NASA World Wind.jpg
NASA satellite image of the Dingle Peninsula

The Dingle Peninsula (Irish : Corca Dhuibhne; anglicised as Corkaguiny or Corcaguiny, the name of the corresponding barony) is the northernmost of the major peninsulas in County Kerry. It ends beyond the town of Dingle at Dunmore Head, the westernmost point of Ireland. [1]

Contents

Name

The Dingle Peninsula is named after the town of Dingle. The peninsula is also commonly called Corca Dhuibhne (Corcu Duibne) even when those referring to it are speaking in English. Corca Dhuibhne, [2] which means "seed or tribe of Duibhne" [3] (a Goddess from Irish mythology and an Irish clan name), refers to the túath (people, nation) of Corco Dhuibhne who occupied the peninsula in the Middle Ages and who also held a number of territories in the south and east of County Kerry.

Geography

The peninsula exists because of the band of sandstone rock that forms the Slieve Mish mountain range at the neck of the peninsula, in the east, and the Brandon Group of mountains, and the Mountains of the Central Dingle Peninsula further to the west. Ireland's highest mountain outside MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Mount Brandon at 951 m, forms part of a high ridge with views over the peninsula and North Kerry.

Conor Pass, which runs from Dingle on the south-western end of the peninsula towards Brandon Bay and Castlegregory in the north-east, is the highest mountain pass in Ireland,[ citation needed ] a narrow, twisting road; it weaves its way around the sharp cliff faces and past the high corrie lakes.

The Blasket Islands lie off the west coast. They are known for the literary and linguistic heritage of the former inhabitants. However, these remote islands have been uninhabited since the 1950s following an evacuation.

Culture, literature, and language

The western end of the peninsula is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) that has produced and heavily influenced a number of storytellers, poets, and writers highly important to Modern literature in Irish; Piaras Feiritéar, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, Cáit Feiritéar, and Peig Sayers among others. This is the westernmost part of Ireland, and the village of Dún Chaoin is often jokingly referred to as "the next parish to America."

Although he greatly admired the post-Irish War of Independence Gaeltacht memoirs from Corca Dhuibhne and the surrounding islands, and particularly the memoirs of Great Blasket Island seanchaithe Tomás Ó Criomhthain, novelist Flann O'Brien also chose to satirize their cliches quite mercilessly in his modernist novel An Béal Bocht ("The Poor Mouth"), which is set in the fictional, desperately poor, and constantly raining Gaeltacht of (Corca Dhorcha); a parody of (Irish : Corca Dhuibhne).

Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, award-winning seán-nos singer and performer of Irish traditional music, was born in the Aran Islands, but grew up in Dún Chaoin. Nic Amhlaoibh has both performed and recorded Irish language songs from Corca Dhuibhne, including at least one song composed upon the nearby Great Blasket Island.

Archaeology

The peninsula is the location of numerous prehistoric and early medieval remains including:

Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne, situated in the village of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh (Ballyferriter) has exhibitions detailing the archaeology and history of the peninsula. Some of the exhibitions include Ogham stones, artefacts from the excavations at the nearby monastic site of Riasc (Reask) and objects on loan from the National Museum of Ireland. [4]

In April 2021, Irish archaeologists from the National Monuments Service and Ireland's National Museum announced the discovery of an untouched Bronze Age grave, skeletal remains, fragments of human bone and a large semicircular slab in the underground passageway. Archaeologist Mr Ó Coileáin reported: "We think this may have been a ritual site with an element of burial in it and this could be one of those. This looks like it is a chambered tomb from the prehistoric period which might have been a significant marker on the landscape". [5] [6] [7] [8]

Places of interest

The Ranga, here pictured in 1986 ShipwreckRangaDunmoreHead1986.jpg
The Ranga, here pictured in 1986

The peninsula is known for the MV Ranga, a Spanish cargo vessel that wrecked on the coast in 1982. [9]

Gallaunmore is a standing stone and National Monument.

Rahinnane Castle is a 15th-century castle built on a medieval ringfort.

Slieveglass, an area of high ground near the village of Brandon, was the site of Ireland's first fatal airliner accident. On 28 July 1943, a BOAC Short S.25 Sunderland III, G-AGES, crashed at 2,000 feet while descending into Foynes in fog, killing 10 of the 25 onboard. [10]

In film

David Lean's 1970 film Ryan's Daughter takes place at a village on the Dingle Peninsula in the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising, and was partly shot on location near Dún Chaoin, Coumeenole Beach, Slea Head and Inch Strand. [11] Far and Away , a 1992 film directed by Ron Howard, was partly filmed on the peninsula. [12]

The film Leap Year is partly set in the Dingle Peninsula, but none of the filming took place in the area. [13]

Several local areas were used for filming of Star Wars: The Last Jedi including Dunmore Head and Slea Head where a replica of the clochán huts of Skellig Michael were built. [14]

In music

Dingle is mentioned in Phil Colclough and June Colclough's "Song for Ireland."

Dunquin Dingle Ireland.jpg
A panoramic view of the western end of the Dingle Peninsula.
Dingle peninsula panorama crop.jpg
A panoramic view of the Dingle Peninsula.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Kerry</span> County in Ireland

County Kerry is a county on the southwest coast of Ireland, within the province of Munster and the Southern Region. It is bordered by two other counties; Limerick to the east, and Cork to the south and east. It is separated from Clare to the north by the Shannon Estuary. With an area of 4,807 square kilometres (1,856 sq mi) and a population of 156,458 as of 2022, it is the 5th largest of Ireland's 32 counties by land area, and the 15th most populous. The governing local authority is Kerry County Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peig Sayers</span> Irish writer (1873–1958)

Máiréad "Peig" Sayers was an Irish author and seanchaí born in Dún Chaoin, County Kerry, Ireland. Seán Ó Súilleabháin, the former Chief archivist for the Irish Folklore Commission, described her as "one of the greatest woman storytellers of recent times".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingle</span> Town in County Kerry, Ireland

Dingle is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about 50 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of Tralee and 71 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Killarney. Principal industries in the town are tourism, fishing and agriculture: Dingle Mart serves the surrounding countryside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blasket Islands</span> Uninhabited islands off the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland

The Blasket Islands are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due to population decline and is best known for a number of Irish language writers who vividly described their way of life and who kept alive old Irish folk tales of the land.

Piaras Feiritéar, or Pierce Ferriter, was an Irish clan Chief, and poet. Although best known for his many works of Bardic poetry in the Irish language, Feiritéar is also a widely revered folk hero in the Dingle Peninsula for his role as a leader of the nascent Irish Confederacy, which led to his 1653 summary execution at Killarney for resisting the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballyferriter</span> Village in County Kerry, Ireland

Baile an Fheirtéaraigh unofficially anglicised as Ballyferriter, or also known as An Buailtín, is a Gaeltacht village in County Kerry, Ireland. It is in the west of the Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle) peninsula and according to the 2002 census, about 75% of the town's population speak the Irish language on a daily basis. The village is named after the Norman-Irish Feiritéar family who settled in Ard na Caithne in the late medieval period. The last Chief of the Name was the seventeenth-century Bard and leader Piaras Feiritéar who was executed. The older Irish name for the village An B[h]uailtín is still used locally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunquin</span> Village in Munster, Ireland

Dún Chaoin, unofficially anglicized as Dunquin, is a Gaeltacht village in west County Kerry, Ireland. Dunquin lies at the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula, overlooking the Blasket Islands. At 10°27'16"W, it is the most westerly settlement of Ireland and of Eurasia, excluding Iceland. Nearby Dunmore Head is the most westerly point of mainland Ireland. The town is linked to Dingle via the R559 regional road. It is also part of the civil parish of the same name. In summer a ferry connects the village with the main island of the Blasket Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloghane</span> Village on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

An Clochán is a Gaeltacht village and townland on the Dingle Peninsula of County Kerry, Ireland, at the foot of Mount Brandon. It is also part of a civil parish of the same name. In 1974 the village was added to the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht. It has a population of 297.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munster Irish</span> Irish language dialect

Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Gaeltachtaí of the Dingle Peninsula in west County Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west County Cork, in Muskerry West; Cúil Aodha, Ballingeary, Ballyvourney, Kilnamartyra, and Renaree of central County Cork; and in an Rinn and an Sean Phobal in Gaeltacht na nDéise in west County Waterford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feothanach</span> Village and townland in County Kerry, Ireland

Feothanach or an Fheothanach is a small village and townland in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht, located 13 km (8.1 mi) north-west of Dingle on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It is at the foot of Mount Brandon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ard na Caithne</span> Bay in County Kerry, Ireland

Ard na Caithne, sometimes known in English as Smerwick, is a bay and townland in County Kerry in Ireland. One of the principal bays of Corca Dhuibhne, it is located at the foot of an Triúr Deirfiúr and Mount Brandon. Bounded by the villages of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Baile na nGall and Ard na Caithne itself, the area is what has been known as the Fíor-Ghaeltacht, or "true Gaeltacht".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reask</span> Ruined early Monastic site, County Kerry

Reask is a ruined early Monastic site located 1 km east of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, County Kerry, Ireland. The remains of the site include the low remnants of buildings and enclosure walls and a cross-slab standing stone which sits in the middle of the compound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eask Tower</span> Stone tower in Kerry, Ireland

The Eask Tower is a solid stone tower on the top of Carhoo Hill, in County Kerry, Ireland, overlooking Dingle harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slea Head</span>

Slea Head is a promontory on the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. It can be reached by the R559 road, with the nearest villages being Ballyickeen and Coumeenoole. The headland itself, together with the larger part of Mount Eagle's southern slopes, is formed from steeply dipping beds of the pebbly sandstones and conglomerates of the Slea Head Formation, dating from the Devonian period and traditionally referred to as old red sandstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingle Way</span> Walking trail in County Kerry, Ireland

The Dingle Way is a long-distance trail around the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a 162-kilometre (101-mile) long circular route that begins and ends in Tralee and is typically completed in eight days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the Irish Sports Council and is managed by the Dingle Way Committee and Kerry County Council.

The Gaeltacht Corca Dhuibhne is located on the western end of the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It's a predominantly Irish-speaking area. It stretches from Abhainn an Scáil to Dún Chaoin and An Clochán to An Daingean. The villages in the area are Abhainn an Scáil, Lios Póil, Daingean Uí Chúis, Ceann Trá, Dún Chaoin, Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Baile na nGall and An Clochán. There are between 6,000–7,000 people living in the region and over 3,000 are Irish speaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunmore Head</span> Place in Kerry, Republic of Ireland

Dunmore Head is a promontory in the westernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula, located in the barony of Corca Dhuibhne in southwest County Kerry, Ireland. The headland, together with parts of Mount Eagle's northern slopes is formed from steeply dipping beds of the cross-bedded sandstones of the Eask Sandstone Formation, dating from the Devonian period and traditionally referred to as the Old Red Sandstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glanfahan</span> Townland on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland

Glanfahan is a townland on the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, notable for its large collection of clocháns, which form a National Monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rinn an Chaisleáin</span> Castle site, cillín in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland

Rinn an Chaisleáin or Castle Point is a National Monument on Great Blasket Island, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stradbally, County Kerry</span> Civil parish in County Kerry, Ireland

Stradbally is a small village and civil parish on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The larger village of Castlegregory is nearby.

References

  1. ↑ MacCulloch, JR (1837). Statistical Account of the British Empire (volume 1). London: Charles Knight & Co. p. 345. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Suzanne Barrett's Ireland for Visitors, April 2009
  3. ↑ "Ireland's Dingle Peninsula Tourism, April 2009". Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  4. ↑ "Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne: Exhibitions". Músaem Chorca Dhuibhne. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  5. ↑ Metcalfe, Tom (30 April 2021). "'Untouched' Bronze Age tomb containing human remains and a mysterious stone found in Ireland". livescience.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. ↑ Davis-Marks, Isis. "Irish Farmer Stumbles Onto 'Untouched' Ancient Tomb". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ↑ McGreevy, Ronan. "Ancient tomb discovered by farmer on Dingle Peninsula". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  8. ↑ tSíthigh, Seán Mac an (16 April 2021). "Ancient 'untouched' tomb discovered on Dingle Peninsula". RTÉ News.
  9. ↑ Hertz, Kayla (25 April 2017). "Fascinating shipwrecks across the Wild Atlantic Way". IrishCentral. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Short S.25 Sunderland III G-AGES Brandon village, Dingle Penninsula (sic)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Ryan's Daughter (1970): Locations". IMDb . Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "Far and Away (1992): Locations". IMDb . Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "Leap Year (2010/1): Locations". IMDb . Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  14. ↑ "Star Wars Filming Locations in Ireland | Where Star Wars is Filmed". Authentic Vacations. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2022.

52°11′36″N10°05′02″W / 52.19333°N 10.08389°W / 52.19333; -10.08389

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